Dead Man With a Violin

My eyes shot up.

I had been walking for hours, lost in thoughts of the past. It had gotten much colder, with snow covering the ground and trees.

“Let’s finish our holiday cheer!”

I could hear singing coming from the distance. I hurried my pace, continuing to follow the stream.

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up! Cause tomorrow spring is here! Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

What the hell is that? I thought, disgusted by the singing.

It was like someone was pouring a mix of sugar, sprinkles, and marshmallow fluff into my ear, extremely sweet and awfully corny.

I stopped walking, only to see a town in the distance.

It looked like some sort of medieval town, with snow-covered roofs made of straw. Scanning the town, I could see a huge building in the center, towering over the other buildings. I decided to head there and find out just where the hell I am.

I was nearing the source of the singing, each cutesy lyric getting louder and louder.

“Bringing home the southern birds, a Pegasus’ job begins” I heard a tomboyish girl’s voice sing.

Wait, Pegasus? I thought, not understanding the weird lyrics.

“And clearing all the gloomy skies, to let the sunshine in.”

I heard the sound of something zooming past above me and looked up to see a rainbow blur fly past. The clouds above me suddenly disappeared, brightening the area around me. I looked down to see snow on the ground melting.

What the hell is going on?! I thought, searching frantically for the source of the singing.

Finally, I looked up to see the source, my jaw dropping open in shock.

******

It was a pony.

A god damned pony with wings flying above me.

It was sky blue, with a rainbow colored mane.

“We move the clouds and we melt the white snow!” I saw two other ponies appear and join the pony in singing, a white one with a curled purple mane and a pink one with a pink poofy mane.

“When the sun comes up its warmth and beauty will glow!”

“WHAT. THE FUCK.” I said loudly, quickly covering my mouth.

Whoops.

The ponies stopped singing, and were staring at me with the same look on their faces I had a couple seconds ago. If this were a cartoon, I probably would have heard a record scratch.

“WINTER WRAP UP! WINTER WRAP UP!”

I looked over to see the pink pony singing.

“WINTER WRAP UP! WINTER Wrap up…” She trailed off, realizing that the other two ponies had stopped singing.

She looked at all of us, first at the white one, then up to the blue one. When she finally looked at me, she let out an almost comedic gasp and sped off into the town.

“Um… Hi!” I said, trying to be friendly to the odd creatures.

As if they were following their leader, the two ponies looked at each other sped off in the same direction.

******

I ran after them, wanting to know what this place is.

Okay, definitely not purgatory.

"Hey, stop! I’m just trying to talk to you!” I yelled after them.

As we ran towards the tall building I saw earlier, other ponies started hiding in the buildings we passed. Blue Unicorns, orange Pegasi, it was insane. When we finally reached the building, the three ponies dashed inside, slamming the door shut behind them. Like an idiot I hit the door, falling to the ground hard.

Ow. Shit.

I got back up, stumbling dizzily. When I slammed into the door must have startled the ponies, squeals coming from the other side of the door. I went to the door and pressed my ear against it.

I could hear them talking.

“What the heck was that beast? It was absolutely hideous.” I heard a preppy sounding voice say.

That must be the white one, I thought. Wait, I’m not that ugly.

“Maybe it was a monster that was coming to eat you Rarity! Rawrgh!!!”

It was that pink one.

She started giggling but was quickly hushed by the other two.

“Be quiet Pinkie, I think it can hear us.”

It was the tomboy pony.

“I don’t know what that thing is but whatever it is we gotta stop it before it hurts somepony.”

Tired of being called it, I decided to speak up.

“Uh, I can hear you three.”

I could hear them scream.

“I’m not going to hurt anypony. Err, anyone. I just want some help.”

The door opened, knocking me back as the pink one bounced out.

“Oh, well why didn’t you just say so? I LOOOVE helping others!”

I took a deep breath, preparing to explain my situation when the other two ponies zoomed out, grabbed the pink pony and ran down the street.

I sighed.

******

I decided to leave the town.

What help would they be if they wanted nothing to do with me?

I walked down the dirt road, head hanging.

I can’t believe I’ve only been here for a couple hours and yet everyone already hated me.

I could feel the eyes staring at me.

I was a freak.

I started running, and I ran, and ran, and ran.

Stop staring at me!

I tripped and fell face first.

Getting up, I looked around, and noticed that I was far from the town, back in the forest. I dusted myself off and picked up the violin case.

It was battered and covered with dirt.

I sat down on a log, staring off into the sky, thinking back to when I got the violin.

******

I'd just turned twenty.

I had been traveling all over the United States ever since I left the orphanage, making a living from playing my violin on the street. I didn’t make much, just enough for food to eat and a room at a run-down motel.

I was in New York City, playing an instrumental of Sweet Child O’ Mine for fun when a man walked by and dropped a $10 bill in my case.

“You sure are a mighty fine fiddler," He said.

“Uh, thanks.”

“Say, how’s about you stop by my pawn shop when you get done here. I got something I think you might like. It’s called Cash Cow Pawn, its right around the corner. Come on in later on if you’d like.”

The man walked off, leaving me interested in what he had to offer.

I dropped into the pawn shop, the bell ringing as I opened the door.

“I’ll be with you in just a minute!” I heard a feminine voice call out.

I decided to look around and see what the shop had to offer. I walked over to the glass cases and checked them out. They were filled with old jewelry. A high school football ring over here, an honor society pin over there. They were all useless mementos.

******

“How can I help you?”

I hadn’t noticed the woman standing in front of me. She was a bit short, with red frizzy hair. She had a smile plastered on her face, and I could tell that she was eager to help.

“Um, I’m looking for a man. He said he owned this place.”

“You’re looking for Frank? Oh, you must be the violinist he was talking about. He’s in the back; I’ll go get him for you.”

She disappeared into the door behind her.

As I walked over to check out a different glass case, I could hear noise coming from the back.

“Are you seriously sleeping back here again? Get your lazy ass up, we got a customer!” I heard the woman yell.

“Oh c’mon Diane, it’s not like we’re real busy or anything.”

“He said he’s looking for you!”

I heard a loud yawn as the door swung open.

“Glad to see you came by.”

It was the man from earlier, Frank.

“So, what did you have to show me?” I asked.

He walked over to a small cabinet, unlocked it, and pulled out a violin case.

******

It was beautiful, with black leather, with a gold trim.

He set the case in front of me. On top, I could see the initials V.H. engraved in gold letters.

“Some old lady sold it to us a couple weeks ago. Said she needed the money for traveling. She was looking for someone, a boy I think.”

He opened the case, revealing a beautiful violin, stained black.

It looked… strangely familiar.

I ignored this thought, getting straight to the point.

“Alright, you hooked me. How much is it?” I asked.

“I think I can part with it for a hundred bucks.”

Without even thinking, I pulled out my wallet and slammed $100 onto the counter.

It was all I had.

“Well alrighty then,” He grinned.

“I see you’re eager to buy it. I knew you’d like it.”

Within a few minutes I was out the door, case and violin in hand.

“Y’all come back now, y’hear!”

******

I smiled.

Memories of the past filled me with joy, thinking of back before this all happened.

I sat up on the log and let out a long yawn.

I had been lost in thought for about an hour, and the sun was setting. It was beautiful outside.

The combination of these joyful memories and the painful time left me in a state of melancholy.

I was inspired, and I knew what I wanted to play.

I took a look at the case, but remembered what happened to the violin.

Still, I could at least give it a shot.

I opened the case and to my surprise, the violin looked brand new.

All the scuff marks and scratches it accumulated over the years had disappeared.

I picked it up out of the case, drew my bow and played a note.

It sounded beautiful.

I prepped myself, and began to play.

Sad Romance, I thought.

Thao Nguyen Xanh.

As I played, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

Thoughts raced through my mind.

Where am I? Why did this happen to me?

The world around me faded to black, the music consuming me.

Even without a pianist, I could hear the piano.

It was an awesome feeling.

******

Before I knew it, I was done.

I sat in silence, staring at the ground, completely taken over by emotions.

“That was… Beautiful.”